Schwab: A friendly rhyme to bury the hatchet

And maybe a message, if you’re clever to catch it.

By Sid Schwab / Herald columnist

This weekend betwixt I should try to be nice,

Refrain from complaining or giving advice.

Until 2020, of rants I’ll steer clear,

Maintain equilibrium, spread naught but good cheer.

Perhaps we can find things on which we agree,

If nothing else happens, as friends we can see,

Such pleasures as sitting before a nice fire.

Americans all, we do share the desire,

For grandkids to thrive in a land that is fair,

Relying on reason to clear up the air.

And when it comes down to it, who can deny,

Under stripes and bright stars do our colors still fly.

Deciding to shout less, to look for the best,

And be a good person: Can we pass the test?

Let’s not forget this while looking around,

It’s lucky we live by the grand Puget Sound.

And that’s reason enough to be taking a pause,

Refraining from ranting (though for a good cause).

As Christmas has passed and left kids a few gifts,

No better time now to be healing our rifts.

Do join me in wishing to everyone here,

A pleasurable start to another new year.

To emailers past who have pieced me their mind,

Restraining my tongue, I’ll not answer in kind.

And to those who have liked what I’ve offered to say,

I pass on my thanks for oft making my day.

To everyone, though, since we all share a heart,

Or when we do differ we’re not far apart,

Rely on my words when I say most sincerely,

Our differences can’t stop what to me are most clearly,

United States values we all want to hold,

Since we were all made from the same sort of mold.

From common ground sprang we not far in the past,

And whatever our future, we want it to last.

Kindness, therefore, could be just the solution,

Each one of us makes as our next resolution.

Email Sid Schwab at columnsid@gmail.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

A Volunteers of America Western Washington crisis counselor talks with somebody on the phone Thursday, July 28, 2022, in at the VOA Behavioral Health Crisis Call Center in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: Dire results will follow end of LGBTQ+ crisis line

The Trump administration will end funding for a 988 line that serves youths in the LGBTQ+ community.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Monday, July 7

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Comment: Supreme Court’s majority is picking its battles

If a constitutional crisis with Trump must happen, the chief justice wants it on his terms.

Saunders: Combs’ mixed verdict shows perils of over-charging

Granted, the hip-hop mogul is a dirtbag, but prosecutors reached too far to send him to prison.

Comment: RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel turns misinformation into policy

The new CDC panel’s railroading of a decision to pull a flu vaccine foreshadows future unsound decisions.

FILE — The journalist Bill Moyers previews an upcoming broadcast with staffers in New York, in March 2001. Moyers, who served as chief spokesman for President Lyndon Johnson during the American military buildup in Vietnam and then went on to a long and celebrated career as a broadcast journalist, returning repeatedly to the subject of the corruption of American democracy by money and power, died in Manhattan on June 26, 2025. He was 91. (Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times)
Comment: Bill Moyers and the power of journalism

His reporting and interviews strengthened democracy by connecting Americans to ideas and each other.

Brooks: AI can’t help students learn to think; it thinks for them

A new study shows deeper learning for those who wrote essays unassisted by large language models.

toon
Editorial: Using discourse to get to common ground

A Building Bridges panel discussion heard from lawmakers and students on disagreeing agreeably.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, June 27, 2025. The sweeping measure Senate Republican leaders hope to push through has many unpopular elements that they despise. But they face a political reckoning on taxes and the scorn of the president if they fail to pass it. (Kent Nishimura/The New York Times)
Editorial: GOP should heed all-caps message on tax policy bill

Trading cuts to Medicaid and more for tax cuts for the wealthy may have consequences for Republicans.

Alaina Livingston, a 4th grade teacher at Silver Furs Elementary, receives her Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic for Everett School District teachers and staff at Evergreen Middle School on Saturday, March 6, 2021 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: RFK Jr., CDC panel pose threat to vaccine access

Pharmacies following newly changed CDC guidelines may restrict access to vaccines for some patients.

Do we have to fix Congress to get them to act on Social Security?

Thanks to The Herald Editorial Board for weighing in (probably not for… Continue reading

Comment: Keep county’s public lands in the public’s hands

Now pulled from consideration, the potential sale threatened the county’s resources and environment.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.